CYCLING: Grantham riders take part in Lincoln GP

A trio of riders from Grantham contested the junior race of this year’s prestigious Lincoln Grand Prix last Sunday.

Run in heavy throughout, the race began with a 30-mile loop north of the city before four laps of the finishing circuit up Steep Hill and through Castle Square.

Karl Baillie (Pedal Pushers) continued his good form in this National Junior Series event. He missed out on the early breaks but finished well in the bunch sprint to take an excellent 11th place, 41 seconds behind the winner.

Reece Egner (Witham Wheelers) and Alistair Golby (VO2 Max) acquited themselves well in their national level debuts. Reece lost contact with the main bunch on the run in to the finishing circuit and retired with two laps remaining.

Alistair was dropped with three laps to go and was then taken off course by a first vehicle. He was baulked by another rider on the cobbled climb but perservered to finish a respectable 39th.

l Senior Peter Cocker (Pedal Pushers) made a big step-up to tackle his first Premier Calendar event in the main Lincoln GP race which featured a 180-rider field of top domestic professionals and amateurs.

Two 30-mile loops were followed by eight laps of the city centre finishing circuit for a total of 120 miles.

Peter had a somewhat eventful race, including an excursion into a hedge which forced him to chase through the race convoy for 10km to rejoin the bunch.

He reached the front of the pack by the time the peloton reached the first of the finishing circuits, with almost half of the field already eliminated.

Peter gradually lost position as the bunch splintered and the race distance told, and his 12-rider group were eliminated by the race judges once they trailed by nine minutes.

The race was won by Raleigh professional Yanto Barker, with only 41 riders completing the event.

He established a 15-second lead with breakaway partner Adam Kenway (Buzz Cycles), before the duo were joined by professionals Kieran Frend (An Post) and Dave Clarke (KTM) and the advantage was extended.

Peter’s team-mate Harry Browning attacked from the main bunch but was re-absorbed to leave the four leaders to fight out the finish.

Kenway got the jump and rode away to victory and Peter settled for fourth in the sprint with his more experienced rivals. Browning took ninth overall in the bunch finish.